Test 11 · ★★★ · Myth check: do lemmings jump off cliffs?

In a cartoon a lemming falls out of a storm cloud. Where might that idea come from?

Mova's choice: option 3 · The right answer: option 3 · right ✓ · Who acts: lemming, idea · What happens: fall, come · To what, where: cartoon

This is test 11 · ★★★ of lesson 150 «Myth check: do lemmings jump off cliffs?» of the biology course of Mova's primary school. The page gives the question's syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause, then the 4 options as the student saw them, each with its tree and pragmatics. Every text is parsed by Mova itself. How the student answered it, with the score of every option and why: the test at school.

The question

Sentence 1: In a cartoon a lemming falls out of a storm cloud.

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	In	in	ADP	_	3 cartoon	case
2	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	3 cartoon	det
3	cartoon	cartoon	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 falls	obl
4	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 lemming	det
5	lemming	lemming	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 falls	nsubj
6	falls	fall	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
7	out	out	ADP	_	11 cloud	case
8	of	of	ADP	_	11 cloud	case
9	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	11 cloud	det
10	storm	storm	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 cloud	compound
11	cloud	cloud	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 falls	obl
12	.	.	PUNCT	_	6 falls	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	fall	present	a lemming			a cartoon		out a storm cloud	vn occur-48.3 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme in cartoon=Location

One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

Sentence 2: Where might that idea come from?

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Where	where	ADV	PronType=Rel	5 come	advmod
2	might	might	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	5 come	aux
3	that	that	DET	Number=Sing PronType=Dem	4 idea	det
4	idea	idea	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 come	nsubj
5	come	come	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	root	root
6	from	from	ADP	_	5 come	obl
7	?	?	PUNCT	_	5 come	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	come	might	that idea						vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme

The options

Option 1

Lemmings are carried up into the clouds by big birds and dropped again in storms

The tree, 15 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Lemmings	lemming	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 carried	nsubj:pass
2	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 carried	aux:pass
3	carried	carry	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	up	up	ADP	_	3 carried	compound:prt
5	into	into	ADP	_	7 clouds	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 clouds	det
7	clouds	cloud	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 carried	obl
8	by	by	ADP	_	10 birds	case
9	big	big	ADJ	Degree=Pos	10 birds	amod
10	birds	bird	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 carried	obl
11	and	and	CCONJ	_	12 dropped	cc
12	dropped	drop	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 carried	conj
13	again	again	ADV	_	12 dropped	advmod
14	in	in	ADP	_	15 storms	case
15	storms	storm	NOUN	Number=Plur	12 dropped	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	carry up	present · passive	big birds	Lemmings		the clouds			vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme
2	drop	past	big birds not said here			storms	again		vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V PP.trajectory»: agent=Theme in storm=Trajectory

Option 2

Lemmings really live in clouds

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Lemmings	lemming	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 live	nsubj
2	really	really	ADV	_	3 live	advmod
3	live	live	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	in	in	ADP	_	5 clouds	case
5	clouds	cloud	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 live	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	live	present	Lemmings			clouds			vn lodge-46 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in cloud=Location

Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

An old folk story, because lemmings appear so suddenly in boom years

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	An	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	4 story	det
2	old	old	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 story	amod
3	folk	folk	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 story	compound
4	story	story	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
5	,	,	PUNCT	_	8 appear	punct
6	because	because	SCONJ	_	8 appear	mark
7	lemmings	lemming	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 appear	nsubj
8	appear	appear	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 story	acl:relcl
9	so	so	ADV	_	10 suddenly	advmod
10	suddenly	suddenly	ADV	_	8 appear	advmod
11	in	in	ADP	_	13 years	case
12	boom	boom	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 years	compound
13	years	year	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 appear	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	appear	present	lemmings	a old folk story not said here			year	suddenly property	vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location story=Theme

Option 4

Scientists saw it happen in a lab

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Scientists	scientist	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 saw	nsubj
2	saw	see	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	it	it	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 saw	obj
4	happen	happen	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	2 saw	xcomp
5	in	in	ADP	_	7 lab	case
6	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	7 lab	det
7	lab	lab	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 happen	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	see	past	Scientists	it					tree rules
2	happen	infinitive				a lab			vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme in lab=Location

Text: the tests of Mova's primary school, written for Mova (world/data/school/), as the course runner gave them to the student. Trees: Mova's own parse — the en model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. Frames: Mova's frames reader (prag), each text read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

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